CALS vs. CAS

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

<p>Right now I'm leaning towards CALS when I apply, but I want to make sure I have everything right:
Cornell looks for an applicant to "fit" into their school of choice. So far, I have EC's such as volunteering at an Alzheimer's senior center and internship at Harvard Medical School. I think these would "fit" better with CALS. I'm not really looking for a liberal arts educations, which I might get at CAS, but I'm not too enthusiastic about environmental/animal science at CALS either. I'm interested in going the pre-med track, so would CALS be a better choice for me? And just to clarify, if I'm in CALS, I can take courses from CAS, right?</p>

2

<p>I would go with CAS. Pre-med students are better off applying to CAS anyway. And you can take courses from ANY of the colleges. However, 100 of the required 120 credits must be taken in the CAS.</p>

3

<p>No. Go with CALS. You can take more premed-specific courses and less “liberal arts” junk that would be required at CAS. If you go with CALS, not only will you be better prepared for med school but med schools will be more likely to admit you.</p>

4

<p>CALS is better for premeds because it contains more life science based courses that are relevant/related to what pre-med students would need to know for a future in medicine.</p>

5

<p>Is CALS automatically cheaper for NY residents?</p>

6

<p>It is cheaper for NY residents.</p>

7

<p>CAS probably because even for med, they like all rounded subjects, not just specified</p>

8

<p>plus the degree requirements are comparable
CALS:
[CALS</a> Registrar: CALS College Distribution Requirements](<a href=“http://www.cals.cornell.edu/cals/current/registrar/current-students/cals-graduation/distribution.cfm]CALS”>http://www.cals.cornell.edu/cals/current/registrar/current-students/cals-graduation/distribution.cfm)</p>

<p>CAS:
[Degree</a> Requirements](<a href=“http://as.cornell.edu/academics/degree-req.cfm]Degree”>http://as.cornell.edu/academics/degree-req.cfm)</p>

9

<p>Just a heads up: the liberal arts “junk” like economics, sociology, psychology, ethics are actually pretty important to a doctor.</p>

10

<p>2nd for norcalguy</p>

<p>It’s obviously important to take the basic pre-med sciences as well as upper division bio, but it’s equally important to take (and do well in) a variety of humanities/social science coursework. Many medical schools require an applicant to take a certain number of credits of humanities/social science courses.</p>

<p>Students from any college can take classes in another college (prob. a few exceptions in there). The difference for CALS students is that they can only take 55 endowed credits and it’s actually pretty hard to exceed that. Additionally, many students are able to successfully challenge the charges for endowed credits once they exceed the 55 credit threshold. As a CALS alum, I felt I had no disadvantage in coursework selection or in the medical school admission process. </p>

<p>In summary: apply to the college you think you have the best fit for.</p>

11

<p>Why not Human Ecology?</p>

12

<p>can people offer more opinions? I would like to know too</p>

13

<p>bump for this thread</p>

<p>I’m still leaning towards CALS right now, mostly because I’m from NY and the tuition would be much cheaper. But I can definitely see myself at CAS, where I’d love to study neuroscience. I guess I’ll just apply to CALS take as many neuroscience/psychology courses from CAS as I can (if I get in :p)</p>

14

<p>If you’re from New York, I would definitely go to CALS. Both schools are similar enough, and CALS would be fine for pre-med. Either way, you’re at Cornell. And seriously, who wouldn’t want to pay state tuition at an Ivy League school?</p>

<p>Shame I’m doing engineering. :(</p>

15

<p>Just wondering, is one easier than the other GPA wise?</p>

16

<p>I don’t know about the gpa comparisons, but there is a thread here talking about cas v cals, somewhat off point, but comparing the prestige of the 2 schools… good luck to you.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/cornell-university/1061470-cornell-concern-any-advice.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/cornell-university/1061470-cornell-concern-any-advice.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;